It is well known to provide vehicles, including trucks, designed for hauling trailers with storage compartments for storing tools, tie-downs, tarps, supplies, personal possessions, and other items which are to be secured (e.g., secure against loss or theft) and/or protected from the weather. A storage compartment may be an integral, i.e., built-in feature of the truck's operator compartment, or it may be an accessory item which is mounted to the exterior of the operator compartment or onto the frame of the truck.
Generally speaking, the more storage compartments on a truck the better, as this gives the operator more room for storing items in a secure and/or weather-resistant manner. Current truck manufacturers seek to maximize the volume of storage compartments on current vehicles, consistent with the other uses of the operator compartment, such as sleeping. However, the amount of storage compartments on trucks designed for hauling semi-trailers is currently limited by several factors, for example: space limitations inside the operator compartment, swing clearance requirements behind the operator compartment, and overall vehicle length restrictions. Each of these factors is further discussed below.
Trucks used for hauling semi-trailers in a tractor-trailer combination are typically equipped with a semi-trailer attachment apparatus known as a fifth wheel. Mounted on the rear frame of the truck, the fifth wheel receives and secures a kingpin mounted on the underside of the semi-trailer to provide a pivotal connection between the truck and semi-trailer. This pivotal articulation allows the tractor-trailer combination to be much more maneuverable than a non-articulated vehicle of similar length. However, when the tractor-trailer combination is in a turning configuration, front corners of the semi-trailer, for a typical rectangular-shaped trailer, pivot about the kingpin center, causing one or the other of the corners, depending on a turning direction, to move forward along an arc toward the back of the truck operator compartment (i.e., day cab without a sleeper or cab with sleeper).
It is known to designate the generally D-shaped area defined by an arc, traveled by a front corner of the semi-trailer when the tractor-trailer combination turns, and the flat leading edge of the semi-trailer as a "swing clearance area." The permanent mounting of equipment or truck components within the swing-clearance area is generally prohibited to avoid interference between the operator compartment and the trailer during turns.
For a tractor-trailer combination, there is typically a volume of free space between the operator compartment and the forward boundary of the swing clearance area. It is known to locate items such as exhaust pipes, air intake pipes, and hose or chain racks in this free space. However, those items do not provide secure, weatherproof storage of articles within this free space. It is also known to position flat rectangular containers against the back of the operator compartment. But such containers do not extend rearward beyond the swing clearance area to use the previously underutilized free space being rearwardly beyond a forwardmost point of the swing clearance area.
Hence, a need exists for a storage cabinet that better uses the free space between the operator compartment and the semi-trailer, but without compromising the swing clearance area.
Some states and countries have laws or regulations that restrict the overall length of a vehicle, which may limit the length of a tractor-trailer combination intended to operate in such states or countries. Because the primary purpose of a tractor-trailer combination is to haul large loads of goods, it may be desirable to maximize the size of the semi-trailer to accommodate larger loads. But, maximization of a trailer length results in a corresponding decrease in the length of the operator compartment under such length restrictions. Reducing the size of the operator compartment adversely affects the effective amount of secure, weatherproof storage volume enclosed within the operator compartment.
Therefore, a need exists for a storage compartment that provides all-purpose storage aft of the operator compartment of a vehicle without interfering with the swing clearance area needed when the vehicle is operably combined with a trailer and without increasing the overall length of a vehicle-trailer combination.